Old/New Testament
Tyre is Rebuked
23 A message[a] concerning Tyre.
“Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is destroyed
and is without house or harbor!
From the land of Cyprus[b]
it was revealed to them.
2 “Be silent,[c] you inhabitants of the coast,
you merchants of Sidon,
whose messengers crossed over the sea,[d]
3 and were on mighty waters.
Her revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
and she became the marketplace of nations.
4 Be ashamed, Sidon, because the sea[e] has spoken,
the fortress of the sea:
I have neither been in labor nor given birth,
I have neither reared young men
nor brought up young women.”
5 When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish
at the report about Tyre.
6 “You who are crossing over[f] to Tarshish—
Wail, you inhabitants of the coast!
7 Is this your exciting[g] city,
that was founded long ago,
whose feet carried her
to settle in far-off lands?
8 Who has planned this
against Tyre,
that bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,[h]
whose traders were the most renowned on earth?
9 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has planned it—
to neutralize all the hubris of grandeur,[i]
to discredit all the renowned men of earth.
10 “Cultivate[j] your land like the Nile,
you daughter of Tarshish;
for there is no longer a harbor.
11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
he has made[k] kingdoms tremble.
The Lord has issued orders concerning Canaan
to destroy its strongholds.
12 And he said:
‘You will revel no longer,[l]
you virgin daughter of Sidon,
now crushed.
Get up, cross over to Cyprus—
but even there you will find no rest.’”
Tyre’s Desolation and Restoration
13 “Look at the land of the Chaldeans!
This is a people that no longer exist;
Assyria destined her[m] for desert creatures.[n]
They raised up her[o] siege towers,
they stripped her fortresses bare
and turned her into a ruin.
14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish,
because your[p] stronghold is destroyed!”
15 It will happen at that time that Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, the span of a king’s life. Then, at the end of those 70 years, it will turn out for Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:[q]
16 “Take a harp;
walk around the city,
you forgotten whore!
Make sweet melody;
sing many songs,
and perhaps you’ll be remembered.”
17 At the end of 70 years, the Lord will deal with Tyre, at which time she’ll return to her courtesan’s trade, and prostitute herself with the kingdoms[r] of the world on the surface of the earth. 18 Nevertheless, her profits and her earnings will be dedicated[s] to the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded—but her profits will go to those who live in the Lord’s presence,[t] for abundant food and choice clothing.
The Earth is Judged
24 “Watch out! The Lord[u] is about to depopulate the land
and devastate it;
he will turn it upside down[v]
and scatter its inhabitants.
2 It will be the same for the lay people as for priests,
the same for servants as for their masters,
for female servants as for their mistresses,
for buyers as for sellers,
for lenders as for borrowers,
and for creditors as for debtors.
3 The earth will be utterly depopulated
and completely laid waste —
for the Lord has spoken this message.[w]
4 “The earth dries up and withers;
the world languishes and fades away;
heaven fades away,
along with the earth.[x]
5 The earth lies defiled
beneath its inhabitants;
because they have transgressed the laws,[y]
violated the statutes,
and broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore the curse keeps on consuming,[z]
and its inhabitants are declared guilty.
Furthermore, the inhabitants of earth are ablaze,
and few people are left.
7 The new wine evaporates;
the vine and the oil[aa] dry up;
all the merrymakers groan.
8 “The celebrations of the tambourine have ended,
the noise of the jubilant has stopped,
and the mirth that the harp produces has ended.
9 No longer do they drink wine
accompanied by singing;
even beer[ab] tastes bitter to those who drink it.
10 The chaotic city lies broken down;
every house is closed up
so that no one can enter them.[ac]
11 There is an outcry in the streets over wine;
all cheer turns to gloom;
the fun times of the earth are banished.
12 Desolation remains in the city
whose gates lie battered into ruins.
13 So it will be on the earth
and among the nations—
as when an olive tree is beaten,
or as gleanings when the grape harvest has ended.”
Glorifying God
14 “They raise their voices;
they shout for joy;[ad]
from the west[ae] they shout aloud[af]
over the Lord’s majesty.
15 Therefore, you in the east,[ag]
give glory to the Lord!
You in the coastlands of the sea,
give glory to the name of the Lord God of Israel!
16 From the ends of the earth
we hear songs of praise:
‘Glory to the Righteous One!’
“But I say, ‘I am pining away,
I’m pining away.
How terrible things are for me!
For treacherous people betray—
treacherous people are betraying with treachery!’”
The Universal Impact of Judgment
17 “Terror and pit and snare are coming in your direction,
you inhabitants of the earth!
18 Whoever flees at the sound of terror
will fall into a pit,
and whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare.
For the windows of judgment[ah] from above are opened,
and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19 The earth is utterly shattered,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth[ai] reels to and fro like a drunkard;
it sways like a hut;[aj]
its transgression lies so heavy upon it,
that it falls, never to rise again.
21 “And it will come about at that time,[ak]
the Lord will punish
the armies of the exalted ones in the heavens,[al]
and the rulers[am] of the earth on earth.
22 They[an] will be herded together[ao]
into the Pit;[ap]
they will be shut up in prison,
and after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be embarrassed
and the sun ashamed,
for the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem;
and in the presence of its elders
there will be glory.”
Praise to the Victorious God
25 Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for you have done marvelous things,
plans made long ago in faithfulness and truth.
2 For you have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified city into a ruin;
the foreigners’ citadel[aq] is no longer a city—
it will never be rebuilt!
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 For you have been a stronghold for the poor,
a stronghold for the needy in distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat—
for the blistering attack[ar] from the ruthless
is like a rainstorm beating against a wall,
5 and the noise of foreigners is like the heat of the desert.
Just as you subdue heat by the shade of clouds,
so the victory songs of violent men will be stilled.
Celebration of the Righteous
6 “On this mountain,[as] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food,
a banquet of well-aged wines—
rich food full of marrow,
and refined wines of the finest[at] vintage
7 And on this mountain,[au] he will swallow up
the burial[av] shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations—
8 he has swallowed up[aw] death forever!
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and he will take away the disgrace of his people
from the entire earth.”
for the Lord has spoken.
9 “And you[ax] will say at that time,[ay]
‘Look! It’s the Lord![az] This is our God!
We waited for him,
and he saved us.
This is the Lord!
We waited for him,
so let us rejoice,
and we will[ba] be glad that he has saved us.”
The Misery of Moab
10 For the Lord’s power[bb] will rest on this mountain,[bc]
but the Moabites will be trodden down beneath him,
just as straw is trodden down
in the slime of[bd] a manure pit.
11 They will spread out their hands in the thick of it,
just as swimmers spread out their hands to swim,
but the Lord will bring down their pride,
together with the cleverness of their hands.
12 He brings down the high fortifications of your walls
and lays them low;
he will raze them[be] to the ground,
right down to the dust.
Greetings from Paul and Timothy
1 From:[a] Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah[b] Jesus.
To: All the holy ones[c] in Philippi, along with their overseers[d] and ministers,[e] who are in union with the Messiah[f] Jesus.
2 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[g] be yours!
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God every time I remember you,[h] 4 always praying joyfully in every one of my prayers for all of you 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am convinced of this, that the one who began a good action among[i] you will bring it to completion by the Day of the Messiah[j] Jesus. 7 For it is only right for me to think this way about all of you, because you’re constantly on my mind.[k] Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, all of you are partners with me in this privilege.[l] 8 For God is my witness how much I long for all of you with the compassion that the Messiah[m] Jesus provides.
9 And this is my prayer, that your love will keep on growing more and more with full knowledge and insight, 10 so that you may be able to choose what is best and be pure and blameless until the day when the Messiah[n] returns, 11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus the Messiah[o] so that God will be glorified and praised.
The Priority of the Gospel in Everything
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually caused the gospel to advance. 13 As a result, it has become clear to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that I am in prison for preaching about[p] the Messiah.[q] 14 Moreover, because of my imprisonment the Lord has caused most of the brothers to become confident to speak God’s word more boldly and courageously than ever before. 15 Some are preaching the Messiah[r] because of jealousy and dissension, while others do so[s] because of their good will. 16 The latter are motivated[t] by love, because they know that I have been appointed to defend the gospel. 17 The former proclaim the Messiah[u] because they are selfishly ambitious and insincere, thinking that they will stir up trouble for me during my imprisonment.
18 But so what? Just this—that in every way, whether by false or true motives, the Messiah[v] is being proclaimed. Because of this, I rejoice and will continue to rejoice. 19 I know that this will result in my deliverance through your prayers and the help that comes from the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah.[w] 20 I rejoice because I eagerly expect and hope that I will have nothing to be ashamed of, because through my[x] boldness the Messiah[y] will be exalted through me,[z] now as always, whether I live or die.[aa]
21 For to me, to go on living is the Messiah,[ab] and to die is gain. 22 Now if I continue living, fruitful labor is the result, so I do not know which I would prefer. 23 Indeed, I cannot decide between the two. I have the desire to leave this life and be with the Messiah,[ac] for that is far better. 24 But for your sake it is better that I remain alive.[ad]
25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will continue to live and be with all of you, so you will mature in the faith and know joy in it. 26 Then your rejoicing in the Messiah[ae] Jesus will increase along with mine[af] when I visit with you again.
Standing Firm in One Spirit
27 The only thing that matters is that you continue to live as good citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel of the Messiah.[ag] Then, whether I come to see you or whether I stay away, I may hear all about you—that you are standing firm in one spirit, struggling with one mind for the faith of the gospel, 28 and that you are not intimidated by your opponents in any way. This is evidence that they will be destroyed and that you will be saved—and all because of[ah] God. 29 For you have been given the privilege[ai] for the Messiah’s[aj] sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him. 30 You have the same struggle that you saw in me and now hear that I am still having.[ak]
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